2J intercooler review

[Sourskittle]

My only question is.... WTF is that measuring folding stick thing, lol.

Ohhhh.... And 10 degrees charge temp rise on a stock turbo with a pro-tune is pretty good for a direct fit. While everyone keeps sighting "how much do your charge temps rise" a reasonable comparison, but that's on valid if its 100% the same car on the same tune compared to a previous datalog.

For instance.... My old panda cooler would prob kick ass on almost anyone's car. But... It you went by the numbers of temp rise on my car, I would see 17-30 degrees. Not because the intercooler was crappy, but because I was running more boost heat than it could handle. If I turned the boost back down and let the boost drop to 20psi at redline, it would have likely looked kick ass. Point is.... Temp rise depends heavily on boost over time as well, so your tune/wastegate duty cycle table can weigh heavily on the "results" you get from a "how much does your charge temps rise". You have to give it context. And context really doesn't mean "last summer my cooler rose 45 degrees, and now in Feb my temps only rise 15 degrees". Sort of needs to be in a relatively same weather pattern.

That may or not be relevant to this thread.

Now.... A pair of datalogs a week or so apart laid over each other showing the same boost pressures and temp rises would be perfect. Doesn't make those "temp increase" post useless by any means, just means.... We need to look at them for what they are

Hope I'm helping.

 

[shouldbeasy]

Agreed, change one variable at a time for the most effective comparison. The data tells all!

 

[frankiefiesta]

My only question is.... WTF is that measuring folding stick thing, lol.

HEY MAN! DONT DISS THE STICK LOL

I wasn't going to do any measurements at all because they've been posted but I figured what the hell, I already weighed it. It was the first thing I found in my neighbors garage

 

[Mr.Fister]

My only question is.... WTF is that measuring folding stick thing, lol.

Ohhhh.... And 10 degrees charge temp rise on a stock turbo with a pro-tune is pretty good for a direct fit. While everyone keeps sighting "how much do your charge temps rise" a reasonable comparison, but that's on valid if its 100% the same car on the same tune compared to a previous datalog.

For instance.... My old panda cooler would prob kick ass on almost anyone's car. But... It you went by the numbers of temp rise on my car, I would see 17-30 degrees. Not because the intercooler was crappy, but because I was running more boost heat than it could handle. If I turned the boost back down and let the boost drop to 20psi at redline, it would have likely looked kick ass. Point is.... Temp rise depends heavily on boost over time as well, so your tune/wastegate duty cycle table can weigh heavily on the "results" you get from a "how much does your charge temps rise". You have to give it context. And context really doesn't mean "last summer my cooler rose 45 degrees, and now in Feb my temps only rise 15 degrees". Sort of needs to be in a relatively same weather pattern.

That may or not be relevant to this thread.

Now.... A pair of datalogs a week or so apart laid over each other showing the same boost pressures and temp rises would be perfect. Doesn't make those "temp increase" post useless by any means, just means.... We need to look at them for what they are

Hope I'm helping.

Yeah I just wanted to put something out there based off my experience so far. I know it's not the most ideal conditions in terms of accurate comparisons. I'm going to go through some old files that I sent to Adamtuned to see if I logged the charge air and ambient temps. I'm in Michigan right now so it's still mid 40s. I'm sure moving to nc this summer will be the real world test.

 

[Sourskittle]

No matter the cooler, I enjoy people sharing results. Don't want to stop anyone that's for sure

 

[joe@2j-racing]

Yes we tested at WOT at Road ATL - in the early summer vs the OEM FMIC. With the cooler temps, the % wont be as dramatic. And regarding our comments, we stand by our workmanship and our products. And our warranty is second to none. A vendor that doesnt speak up and defend their work is spineless. We welcome any feedback for improvement

 

[AzNightmare]

And regarding our comments, we stand by our workmanship and our products. And our warranty is second to none. A vendor that doesnt speak up and defend their work is spineless. We welcome any feedback for improvement

Every brand will have their own standard of "workmanship" so I am wondering in this specific example, would this be considered a mistake in your end or is this something that met/passed 2JR's Quality Assurance?

 

[joe@2j-racing]

I'm sorry about the welds if they are not perfectly laid. We make them in house, not chinese or overseas. Its American Made Sorry if they are not up to standards but the welds are secure

 

[frankiefiesta]

I'm sorry about the welds if they are not perfectly laid. We make them in house, not chinese or overseas. Its American Made Sorry if they are not up to standards but the welds are secure

Joe, I am very happy with the intercooler. The welds may not be perfect, but I'm not picky. As long as it performs the way I expect it to I will be a satisfied customer. I went with your intercooler because of how impressed I was with the cowl intake. I think you make parts for racers, not trailer show queens, and I respect that. Hope to do business with you again in the future.

 

[commonplatypus]

If it works, it works. Staying under 10F on a WOT pull is just dandy and I can say it is on par with my MTC (The eBay special $350 fmic) intercooler datalogs. Regardless of how the intercooler looks or however 2j wants to behave, the only thing that matters here is that the product works. Testimony states it doesn't leak boost, drop pressure, and reduces charge temps nominally. I'd call that good enough in my book.

Attached one of my logs below for comparison.

http://www.datazap.me/u/commonplatypus/third-gear-mtc-log?log=0&data=0-1-3-4-5-6-8-14

 

[madfiesta14]

Mine came in today and I will post pics, Im on the side of does the damn thing do what its supposed to do? @399.99 is a hell of a deal, drop in replacement. I do plan on opening up the lower half of the crash bar by maybe 2 inches will post pics of that as well. Coming from the tuning days of my Se-r 1992, only a few companies did things "raw" like 2j-racing, I have had 2 sr20de, qr25de,vq35hr, ka24de, and most of the best parts were not pretty.

 

[madfiesta14]

And I owned the Classic se-r in 1993

 

[frankiefiesta]

If it works, it works. Staying under 10F on a WOT pull is just dandy and I can say it is on par with my MTC (The eBay special $350 fmic) intercooler datalogs. Regardless of how the intercooler looks or however 2j wants to behave, the only thing that matters here is that the product works. Testimony states it doesn't leak boost, drop pressure, and reduces charge temps nominally. I'd call that good enough in my book.

Attached one of my logs below for comparison.

http://www.datazap.me/u/commonplatypus/third-gear-mtc-log?log=0&data=0-1-3-4-5-6-8-14

Should have my car back today and when it stops raining I'll do some data logs for comparison

 

[commonplatypus]

Mine came in today and I will post pics, Im on the side of does the damn thing do what its supposed to do? @399.99 is a hell of a deal, drop in replacement. I do plan on opening up the lower half of the crash bar by maybe 2 inches will post pics of that as well. Coming from the tuning days of my Se-r 1992, only a few companies did things "raw" like 2j-racing, I have had 2 sr20de, qr25de,vq35hr, ka24de, and most of the best parts were not pretty.

It sounds as if the intercooler functions just fine without a crashbar modification. I would suggest running the intercooler as designed and THEN deciding if you need to make further irreversible modifications to the car's structure. I think you will find it isn't necessary.

 

[frankiefiesta]

The cradh beam is blocked by the lower half of the grill. If you want to go through the trouble of drilling out every honeycomb and then the crash beam be my guest... And please post any result you find. I would be interested in what/if there are any improvements but probably wouldn't go through the hassle

 

[twolf]

I'm not sure how much difference that would make. Even with the DHM combo, the IC doesn't peek much above the honeycomb.

 

[frankiefiesta]

[MENTION=3699]twolf[/MENTION] that's what I'm sayin..

 

[madfiesta14]

Installed it today, was easy, fit perfect my welds were fine. Loaded COBB stage 2 v221 and vroom, vroom!!!!
Definitely needs a custome tune. My Abarth would still walk my FIST. I am still not sure why some say downpipe is not needed. I know on my 1.4 Abarth it was huge. Guess different turbo. But if thats the case wgy cant I load Cobb stage 3 if DP makes no difference on stock turbo.

 

[frankiefiesta]

Installed it today, was easy, fit perfect my welds were fine. Loaded COBB stage 2 v221 and vroom, vroom!!!!
Definitely needs a custome tune. My Abarth would still walk my FIST. I am still not sure why some say downpipe is not needed. I know on my 1.4 Abarth it was huge. Guess different turbo. But if thats the case wgy cant I load Cobb stage 3 if DP makes no difference on stock turbo.

Get a pro tune. I suggest going through DHM they recently started doing e-tuning

 

[AzNightmare]

Installed it today, was easy, fit perfect my welds were fine. Loaded COBB stage 2 v221 and vroom, vroom!!!!
Definitely needs a custome tune. My Abarth would still walk my FIST. I am still not sure why some say downpipe is not needed. I know on my 1.4 Abarth it was huge. Guess different turbo. But if thats the case wgy cant I load Cobb stage 3 if DP makes no difference on stock turbo.

That's a good point... A question for Adam (TUNE+). Since so far, hes' the only source I've read that adamantly claimed DP doesn't do anything... Considering he's one of the top tuners for our cars, it does seem rather strange that so many others have a different opinion.

Get a pro tune. I suggest going through DHM they recently started doing e-tuning

Do you know how much they charge for their e-tune?